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WEB LOG of my visit to Malta
Don Ravey - February/March 2004

FOURTH WEEK

Monday, 23 February - Ute arrived last night from Germany and today we took the bus to Valletta to observe more of the fascinating Carneval celebration. Here is Ute in front of the Auberge de Castille (the Malta Prime Minister's offices) and a photo of some of the revelers. We visited St. John's Co-Cathedral, which had been closed when I tried to visit it last week. We also visited the Casa Rocca Piccola, a fine 16th century house of a nobleman in a beautiful state of preservation, since it has been lived in continuously by various Knights and noblemen, and since 1918, by the family of the present owner, the 9th Marquis de Piro, 9th Baron of Budach, who in fact was our tour guide today! A most cultured, genial, modest and entertaining gentleman with, of course, an intimate personal knowledge of the history of the property (and of Malta).

Thursday, 26 February - Ute and I walked along the bay to Buggiba, a popular resort town; this photo of Ute was taken from the top of Wignacourt Tower (built in 1609), the place where it is said that Paul the Apostle came ashore after his shipwreck in 60 A.D. Bugibba is in the background. The next photo shows the clear Mediterranean water around a rock from which a man is fishing. The next two photos are in Mdina, a walled city on a hill, more or less in the middle of the island. The second photo shows the landscape from Mdina to the north coast of Malta.

Friday, 27 February - With a fine day for sight seeing, we enjoyed three different destinations today: the gardens of Palazzo Parisio in Naxxar, the impressive neolithic temples at Tarxien (3,100-2,500 B.C.), and the Chinese Gardens of Serenity in Santa Lucija. It was a long, but rewarding day, with a mixture of different kinds of destinations.

Saturday, 28 February - Today, the island of Gozo! This smaller island is only a couple of miles from Malta, but is quite a different environment; it is noticeably cleaner and neater and even seems to have a better selection of produce and souvenirs, including beautiful hand made lace, for which it is especially well known. The people also seem even friendlier and less hurried than on the larger island. These photos show our ferry entering Mgarr harbor on Gozo; the coffee house where Ute and I had a marvelous lunch of ciabatta , with a delicious salad and blood orange juice; a produce stall in Victoria, the capital of Gozo; Ute at the top of The Citadel in Victoria; and a view of the neighboring town of Gharb, from The Citadel. Gozo is simply charming.